U.S. patent application number 11/130288 was filed with the patent office on 2006-11-16 for automatic network performance data collection and optimization.
This patent application is currently assigned to Texas Instruments Incorporated. Invention is credited to Brad Hale, Tony W. Wong.
Application Number | 20060258295 11/130288 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37419772 |
Filed Date | 2006-11-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060258295 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wong; Tony W. ; et
al. |
November 16, 2006 |
Automatic network performance data collection and optimization
Abstract
A method for collecting communication system information from a
communication system including a controller and one or more
communication devices operating therein includes transmitting a
request to the one or more communication devices requesting
information regarding a quality of signal(s) received at the one or
more communication devices along with geographical location
information from the one or more communication devices, and
transmitting automatically from the one or more communication
devices the signal quality information along with the geographical
location information to the controller. A communication device
which can automatically provide signal quality and location
information is also described, as well as a communication system
that can collect signal quality and geographical location
information from one or more communication devices operating within
the communication system.
Inventors: |
Wong; Tony W.; (Dallas,
TX) ; Hale; Brad; (Dallas, TX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
P O BOX 655474, M/S 3999
DALLAS
TX
75265
US
|
Assignee: |
Texas Instruments
Incorporated
Dallas
TX
|
Family ID: |
37419772 |
Appl. No.: |
11/130288 |
Filed: |
May 16, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/67.13 ;
455/67.14 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 24/00 20130101;
H04B 17/24 20150115 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/067.13 ;
455/067.14 |
International
Class: |
H04B 17/00 20060101
H04B017/00 |
Claims
1. A method for collecting communication system information from a
communication system including a controller and one or more
communication devices operating therein, the method comprising:
transmitting a request to the one or more communication devices
requesting information regarding a quality of signal(s) received at
the one or more communication devices along with geographical
location information from the one or more communication devices;
and transmitting automatically from the one or more communication
devices the signal quality information along with the geographical
location information to the controller.
2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the quality of signal(s)
received comprises the received signal strength of the signal(s)
received at the one or more communication devices.
3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the quality of signal(s)
received at the one or more communication devices comprises the
bit-error-rate (BER) of the received signals.
4. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the geographical
location information comprises GPS information.
5. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising: generating a
plot from the received signal quality and geographical information
collected from the one or more communication devices.
6. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising: making an
adjustment to the communication system based on the collected
signal quality information and geographical location
information.
7. A communication device, comprising: a receiver for receiving a
signal; signal quality measurement means for measuring the quality
of the received signal; a geographical positioning means for
determining the geographical location of the communication device;
and a controller in response to receiving a request for a quality
measurement and location information causes the signal quality
measurement means to measure the quality of the received signal and
the geographical positioning means to determine the geographical
location of the communication device.
8. A communication device as defined in claim 7, wherein the signal
quality measurement means comprises means for measuring relative
signal strength.
9. A communication device as defined in claim 7, wherein the signal
quality measurement means comprises means for measuring bit error
rate (BER).
10. A communication device as defined in claim 7, further
comprising: a transmitter means for transmitting information
signals.
11. A communication device as defined in claim 10, wherein the
controller causes the transmitter to transmit information on the
quality of the received signal and the geographical location
information.
12. A communication device as defined in claim 11, wherein the
information on the quality of the received signal and the
geographical location information are transmitted to a system
controller that collects the information for use in making
adjustments to a communication system the communication device is
operating in.
13. A communication device as defined in claim 11, wherein the
transmitter automatically transmits the information regarding the
quality of the received signal and the geographical location
information without intervention by the communication device
user.
14. A communication system, comprising: a communication device; a
controller; and in response to the controller having a system
performance request message sent to the communication device, the
communication device automatically transmits back to the controller
information regarding quality of signal(s) received by the
communication device and geographical location information of the
communication device.
15. A communication system as defined in claim 14, wherein the
communication device further includes a geographical positioning
receiver.
16. A communication system as defined in claim 14, wherein the
communication device further includes hardware and/or software for
measuring the signal quality of received signals.
17. A communication system as defined in claim 14, further
comprising: a database for storing the received signal quality and
geographical location information transmitted by the communication
device.
18. A communication system as defined in claim 17, wherein the
system controller uses the received signal quality and geographical
location information to make an adjustment to the communication
system.
19. A communication system as defined in claim 18, wherein the
adjustment to the communication system the controller makes is
adjusting the power level of signals transmitted to the one or more
communication devices.
20. A communication system as defined in claim 16, wherein the
signal quality that is measured by the communication device is the
received signal strength of the received signals.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to wireless communications, and more
specifically to a method and apparatus for providing automatic
network performance data collection and optimization.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Wireless communication networks such as cellular telephone
systems typically require periodic "drive testing" in order to
perform radio frequency (RF) performance optimization of the
network. Drive testing typically encompasses a team of technicians
who drive around the cellular system geographical coverage area
testing the RF coverage and other parameters of the system. The
technicians usually drive in a specially equipped van taking
different measurements. Periodic drive testing is typically
conducted not only to maintain proper system adjustments, but also,
for example, when a new cell or cell site is added, when there is a
big change in traffic pattern in the system (e.g., due to a new
highway), and/or the addition or relocation of the mobile switching
center (MSC) as a few illustrative examples.
[0003] All the above mentioned factors and others demand that the
system be drive tested since a sub-optimized communication network
may have many revenue-impacting effects such as higher drop call
rates which result in lower minutes of use (MOU) by system users,
poor customer retention rates due to poor system performance and
uneven traffic distribution caused by a network that is not
optimized.
[0004] A typical drive-test will require a few technicians and/or
RF engineers to drive around taking plots of RF signal levels, etc.
From the result of the drive tests, optimization of the system is
performed. Optimization can include adjustment of signal power
levels for different cells, tilting of antennas on towers, adding
antenna towers to improve coverage in certain heavy usage
locations, etc. Drive-testing although beneficial is time consuming
and requires a lot of manual work on the part of a group of
technicians to perform the test properly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a communication system in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
[0006] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a communication device in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0007] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart highlighting an automatic GPS/RSSI
scheme in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0008] In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a
communication network 100 such as that shown in FIG. 1, collects
signal quality information such as received signal strength
indicator (RSSI) from the communication devices 108, 110 operating
within the network 100. In one embodiment, the communication
devices 108, 110 are equipped with global positioning system (GPS)
receivers as well as RSSI measurement circuitry or other circuitry
and/or software that provides information on received signal
quality. When queried by the communication network system
controller 112 by the generation of a system performance request
message sent to one or more of the communication devices 108, 110,
the communication devices 108, 110 transmit a message back to the
system controller 112 which includes information on the RSSI that
was measured by the communication device and the communication
device's GPS location information at the time of the RSSI
measurement.
[0009] It should be noted that although in the described embodiment
a GPS receiver is used to provide geographical location
information, any type of geographical positioning technique can be
used to provide communication device position/location information.
As illustrative examples, other geographical positioning techniques
that can be used in the present invention can include Galileo, Time
Difference of Arrival (TDOA), WiFi-positioning location methods,
Loran-C, triangulation, etc.
[0010] Information received at the system controller 112 can be
stored in a database 114. The RSSI/GPS information stored in the
database 114 can then be analyzed in order to perform network
optimization. The analysis of the information can be performed for
example using mapping software that generates RF coverage plots,
etc.
[0011] The system controller 112 or another system component can
interrogate the communication devices 108, 110 periodically in
order to take multiple measurements at various locations in the
network 100. This interrogation can occur either during a long
period of time (e.g., over different days) or over a short period
of time (e.g., over a few minutes). Although the device collecting
the information is referred to as a system controller or
controller, it can comprise any system device that can generate a
message to one or more of the communication devices 108, 110
requesting the system performance data (e.g., quality of signals
transmitted to the communication devices 108, 110, etc.).
[0012] Using the RSSI information along with the GPS location
information where the RSSI measurement was taken allows the
communication network to draw detailed RF plots over most of the
network 100. The RF plots will allow for appropriate actions to be
taken in order to optimize the communication network. As
illustrative examples, these actions can include but are not
limited to, increasing/decreasing the RF power levels on one or
more cell sites, adjusting antenna angles, adding a new cell site
in heavily congested areas, etc. By automatically querying one or
more of the communication devices operating within the
communication network 100 a lot of useful system information can be
gathered in a short period of time.
[0013] In order to reduce the effect on the system's performance,
the automatic querying of the communication devices 108, 110 can
occur during designated periods of time, during certain
days/nights, groups of communication devices can be done during
certain periods of time, etc. In some networks 100 where thousands
of communication devices are operating within the network, a lot of
system optimization information can be gathered without having to
use manual drive-tests as in the prior art.
[0014] Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a block diagram of a
communication device 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention. Communication device 200 can be a cellular telephone
such as communication devices 108, 110 or other type of wireless
communication device. Communication device 200 includes an antenna
202 selectively coupled to a transmitter 204, a receiver 206 and a
GPS receiver 210. The overall operation of the communication device
is controlled by a controller 208. Controller 208 can be a
microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP) or
other control circuitry and/or software.
[0015] Communication device 200 further includes a global
positioning system (GPS) receiver 210 which can be located
separately from receiver 206 or integrated as part of receiver 206.
Receiver 206 further includes a relative signal strength indicator
(RSSI) circuit that can measure the signal strength of a received
signal at communication 200. The RSSI circuit 212 can take anyone
of a number of well known forms, for example hardware, software,
firmware or a combination of these. In accordance with one
embodiment of the invention, when communication device 200 receives
a signal from system controller 112 requesting that a signal
quality measurement (e.g., RSSI, etc.) be taken, the controller 208
requests the RSSI information from RSSI circuit 212 as well as the
GPS location information from GPS receiver 210. The controller 208
can then cause transmitter 204 to send a message to the system
controller 112 which includes the RSSI information and the GPS
information were the RSSI measurement was taken. All of the above
can be performed automatically without the user of the
communication device 200 knowing that the measurement information
is being sent to the system controller 112.
[0016] Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a flowchart
highlighting some of the actions taken in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention. In 302, the system controller
112 or other component request RSSI/GPS information from one or
more of the communication devices 108, 110 operating within the
communication network 100. In 304, the system controller 112
receives the RSSI/GPS information from the radios and stores the
information in the database 114. In 306, the collected RSSI/GPS
information is analyzed using one of a number of tools such as a RF
power mapping tool that maps the measured RSSI levels throughout
the system. In an alternate embodiment, the information is averaged
over certain geographical areas of the system in order to collect
an aggregate measurement and speed up the system adjustment
process.
[0017] In another embodiment, the system can automatically adjust
(raise/lower) cell site power levels based on the collected
information. An output such as a print out can also be generated
which informs service crews/ RF engineering team of the need for
example of adjusting the antenna angles on some of the antenna
towers. Other embodiments may let the system know that a certain
number of users were in a certain geographical area within the
communication network 100 during a given period of time. If a
predetermined number of users are located in a certain system
coverage area as determined by the GPS information, the output
information generated may let the system know that another cell
site may be needed in the area, or the geographical area covered by
certain cell sites may need to be adjusted.
[0018] The number of different adjustments or optimization
performed based on the collected information can be many. The level
of automation of the adjustments will also depend if the
adjustments can be done by the system itself without human
intervention (e.g., adjust power levels) or may require some type
of manual intervention (e.g., technician needed to adjust antenna
pattern). The system can also be manually overwritten if required,
if for example, there is an immediate need of collecting system
information at a certain period of time (e.g., after a new cell
site has been added). Other system uses can include, determining if
there is any RSSI degradation during certain times of the day, etc.
The number of times a particular communication device or devices
are queried for RSSI information can be changed depending on the
information collection requirements of the communication network
administrator.
[0019] Although RSSI has been discussed, other received parameters
such as bit-error-rate (BER) or other measurements that can be
taken by the communication devices 108, 110 can also be collected
in addition to or instead of the RSSI information.
[0020] While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been
illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is
not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations,
substitutions and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the
art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention as defined by the appended claims.
* * * * *